Milling & Baking News - September 22, 2009 - 36

Industry Activities 

McDonald's v.p. highlights central
baking role in new product success
Continued from Page 1

of a number of baking companies
concepts such as Chipotle and Bos- that have been long-term suppliers
ton Market, he said the company of McDonald's. These relationships
had lost focus. Mr. Marshall cred- are maintained even though McDonited the company's late chief ex- ald's, as a strict policy, does not sign
ecutive officer James Cantalupo contracts with its suppliers.
Mr. Marshall said this approach
for developing a three-year "plan
to win" that put the company back - committed but without contracts
on a positive course.
He noted that same'When you look at snack wraps,
store sales figures have
grown consistently for
our new Angus products, and
several years.
McGriddles, baking has been the
Beyond the imporstar with the most successful new
tance of focus, Mr. Marshall said the company
products at McDonald's.'
remains committed to
- Bob Marshall, vice-president
the strength of its "threeof McDonald's Corp.
legged stool" concept, an
idea first conceived by
founder Ray Kroc to describe the - toward its suppliers may have
importance the company placed on its roots in an early handshake refranchisees and suppliers, together lationship with Louis Kuchuris, the
founder of East Balt, Inc., a bun supwith the role of the company itself.
"All three participate fully in the plier to McDonald's.
Mr. Marshall shared with the
annual planning process," Mr. Marshall said, noting that the process is Long Co. audience colorful anecdotes from the first days of Mcvery transparent.
"We don't change suppliers often," Donald's describing how Mr. KuMr. Marshall said, showing a slide churis helped Mr. Kroc, who was

Rhode Island requiring whole grains
in school meals programs
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Rhode
Island Department of Education
has contracted with Kids First to
launch Rhode Island Nutritional
Requirements (R.I.N.R.) that require the serving of more whole
grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes and less sodium as part of
school meals programs.
The program, which through Kids
First receives funding provided by
a U.S. Department of Agriculture
Team Nutrition Grant, requires all
of the grains served (rice, bread,
pasta, cereal, etc.) as part of reimbursable meals and snacks will be at
least 50% whole grain. In addition,
50% of all grains served as part of
the reimbursable meals and snacks
will be 100% whole grain.
Whole grain products may not
have more than 7 grams of total
sugar per oz, except for grains with
fruit, the R.I.N.R. stated.
"The nutritional guidelines for our
state's school meals are a significant
36 / September 22, 2009 Milling & Baking News

step in the nationwide push to improve school food," said Dorothy
Brayley, executive director for Kids First.
"R.I.N.R. was developed based on the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans.
R.I.N.R.
takes the nutritional
requirements of the
U.S.D.A.'s
National
School Lunch Program several significant steps forward to
make available and encourage the
consumption of more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, more legumes and less sodium (perhaps less
highly processed food?!)."
In a Sept. 13 blog on the Whole
Grains Council's web site, Cynthia
Harriman, director of food and nutrition strategies, applauded Rhode
Island for taking a big step, "putting
their kids first, and for serving them
healthier whole grain products."

struggling in his efforts to establish
the business.
The role suppliers play in helping
McDonald's continually improve its
products was emphasized by Mr.
Marshall. Emblematic of the company's attitude toward continuous improvement was the evolution of the
biscuit. First developed many years
ago, the initial product "tasted great
but was a disaster," Mr. Marshall
said. The problem was coordinating
daily scratch baking
at thousands of outlets was completely
impractical.
He credited Bama
Pie Co., Tulsa, Okla.,
with developing the
first
ready-to-serve
product and then
Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products with
improving the product further, an example of what Mr.
Marshall called "coopetition."
The company continues to convene a bakery council of its baking
suppliers "to work to get better," Mr.
Marshall said. He described McDonald's approach toward buying baked
foods as focused on "value rather
than price" while adding that assuredness of supply also is a key. MBN
"Many schools serve whole grains
... and we applaud these schools
wildly," Ms. Harriman wrote. "In the
face of budget cutbacks everywhere,
it's not easy to voluntarily spend
more for whole grain products when
nothing but your conscience and your concern for kids is making you do so."
In addition to its requirements for whole
grains, the R.I.N.R.
program calls for
a minimum of two
servings of fruit and/
or vegetables to be
offered at breakfast, a
minimum of three servings at lunch
and a minimum of one serving for
an after school snack. One or more
servings of cooked legumes (dried
beans, dried peas or lentils) are to
be offered each week as well, the
R.I.N.R. said.
Regarding sodium, the maximum
allowed amount for breakfast, lunch
and after school snack shall be 575
mg, 1,070 mg and 350 mg, respectively, the R.I.N.R. stated. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - September 22, 2009

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